


Damaged Property

by DancingFlurry



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 17:26:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2076693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingFlurry/pseuds/DancingFlurry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanji had been looking for Eren for a long time. Ever since they had been reincarnated actually. One day she hears from a co-worker that they had found Eren in some of the psychiatist paperwork. Hanji rushes over to save Eren only to find that he isn't as strong as he used to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Did we find him?

Hanji sat at her dining room table doing paperwork. She rushed to finish before Levi got home, she could hear him complaining now about the mess on his table and how he had just cleaned it before he went off to work. She signed the last paper and placed it on the pile. She was so tired of constantly filling these things out but there was really nothing she could do about it. Ever since she had been reincarnated into this world she had pertained the memories of how her life used to be. This world was a bit simpler. It didn’t have a huge threat like the titans, but it still wasn’t completely safe. Your whole life relied on your job if you lost it you were pretty much screwed till you could find another. Another thing was that instead of Titans killing humans, Humans went to wars with other humans for almost pointless reasons. She was so glad that she decided not to go back to that. She had been a hero once, and that was enough for her.  
In this time she had decided to be a doctor and finally put her wisdom to use, helping people rather than trying to figure out how to kill a group. Levi had decided to become an elementary teacher, Hanji thought it was sweet but he slowly began to hate it, saying that kids were disgusting. To him all kids where, except for the reincarnations of his team.   
She could tell that Levi was happy to know that they were safe, or that most of them were safe. They still hadn’t found Eren yet. They had searched everywhere for him but it was almost like he didn’t exist in this time. But Levi refused to give up on him. He believed that somewhere just harder to find then others and he was partially right. They had found some a lot easier than the others, like Jean and Marco who they had seen together going on a date at a movie theater or Armin who had hundreds of new articles about how much of a genius he was and at only his age. Hanji guessed that’s what kept Levi going, knowing that one day he would be able to apologize to Eren.   
She ran her hand through her hair. Where ever Eren was all she could hope was that he was safe. Eren always had a knack for getting in trouble. And this time probably would see his anger and his enthusiasm as something bad. Hanji laughed at the thought that Eren might be a type of gangster or something  
She heard the door open and close. Levi was home. She picked up her papers and moved them to the floor. Levi growled as he entered the room. He rummaged through the fridge and grabbed a beer then sat next to Hanji at the table. Hanji looked over at the clock. It was 8.   
“You’re late” she muttered   
Levi popped open the beer bottle and took a few sips before setting it down on the table.   
“I’m sorry; Erwin and I had a bit of a disagreement on how to handle kids. He thinks just because he’s the principal he can do whatever he wants and get away with it.”  
Hanji sighed. She knew how angry Levi could get. Especially with children. She knew that he cared about them and wanted to help them but they were messy and spoiled. More spoiled in this time than the other. In their past lives people actually punished their children causing them to become a well acting part of society, these days kids demanded stuff from their elders and treated them horribly only to grow up to one day regret it. Levi wanted to teach the kids he was responsible for how to act accordingly before they were released from his line of duty.   
“What did you do this time?” She asked   
“Why is it always what I did? Fine I guess you have a point. There’s this kid and don’t you expect me to remember his name the school year just started. And we had a day where we explained how architects build and we used blocks so that the idiot kids would learn the information and right before the day was over I asked them to clean up their mess and most did everyone except that damned kid, he kept bullying the other kids and throwing blocks everywhere. I was trying to seem calm and nice and it wasn’t working. Then the brat threw a block at my head and called me an old fart, so I slapped him. I didn’t think about how hard I hit him till I saw his face. There was a black spot on his face. So yea his mom was mad, Erwin was mad and I lost a student.”  
Hanji shook her head with frustration. Levi should know not to hit kids. He hadn’t lost much of his strength from his life before. He just had a talent for strength. Levi put his face on the table and screamed.  
“I was hoping that Eren would appear in my new class. I don’t know, I’ve just been thinking about him all this week. I guess its cause Erwin brought up the war a few days ago. But he still didn’t come.”   
Levi took another sip from his beer bottle. He placed the bottle down and then ran his hands through his hair. He looked over at Hanji’s cell which was flashing.   
“Hey shitty glasses, you have a message. You take it and I’ll meet you in bed, I am way too tired to do anything else.”  
Hanji nodded as Levi got up from his seat and left. She grabbed her cell and looked at the missed call message that appeared on her phone. It was from her work. But why? They could’ve just waited till she got back in tomorrow so this had to be important.  
She pushed a button to call her voice mail and waited for the message.  
“You have one new message, Hey Hanji, This is Charlotte. I know it’s late but I think I found something you might want to see. You know that Eren Jaeger kid you said you were looking for. Well I was going through the psychiatrists’ paperwork and I found him. I think you may want to come here as soon as you can. He’s not in the safest place right now. I’ll be here all night sorting through all of his files, trying to see if I got a case here with him. So you can come at any time. Thank you and good bye.”  
Hanji knew what she had to do. If Eren was in trouble it was her responsibility to save him Eren was her friend and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.   
She walked into their bedroom and saw Levi lying in the bed asleep. She quietly got her purse and tried leaving but Levi looked over and groaned at her.   
“Where the hell are you going? Come lay next to me.”  
“Charlotte found Eren. She had to go through the psychiatrist paperwork to find a case, and one of the cases she thinking about taking is Eren’s. I’m going to go the mental hospital and pick him up. He shouldn’t even be there, we both know it’s only because in this time things Eren did back then are seen as unacceptable. “  
Levi rolled over to get a better look at her.  
“What does Charlotte do for a living again?” he mumbled half awake  
“She’s a social worker that takes up cases of mistreated kids, or kids that have gotten the wrong medication from a doctor. She’s there to insure that we all help or kids instead of harming them.”   
Levi nodded. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.  
“Do I not get a good night kiss?” he cried  
Hanji rolled her eyes. This happens every time she wakes up Levi. He gets just a little bit more romantic. She and Levi had been married for two years and she had learned that if you woke up Levi you got one of two reactions either the clingy Levi or the furious Levi. The benefits did not weigh out the risk so she never purposely tried it. But it was nice that he wasn’t angry about her being too loud. She guessed it was because of Eren.   
She leaned in and kissed his lips. Then waved goodbye and walked to her car. When she got on the road reality finally sat in. Yes they had finally found Eren but he probably wasn’t in the best shape. If Charlotte was even thinking about taking up his case he had to be in a non-trusting maybe even crazy state. And what if he was so drugged or so hurt that he can’t remember her. That would hurt her a lot, since she cared a lot for Eren. She drove into the work parking lot and sat in the car till she got the courage to walk in. She immediately ran into Charlotte who was patiently waiting for her.


	2. Paperwork

“Hanji, it’s good to see you. Look at this paper and tell me if that’s Eren. If so I got a bunch of files for you.”  
She looked over the paper to see that in the right hand corner was a picture of none other than Eren Jaeger. The one thing that shocked her was that it wasn’t just a picture like somebody would take to place on a psychiatrist’s file. It was a mug shot. She shook her head.  
“This is him.” she muttered  
Charlotte handed her more paperwork to look over.  
“He is up for adoption if you would like to take him home. If not I will have to put him in the foster care system as soon as he gets out of that facility.”   
Hanji thought about Levi, she should call him and talk to him about it. But this was Eren he should be happy to see it’s him. And they did kind of raise him back then too, so Levi should be fine with it.   
“Yea I would, do you have the adoption papers on you.”   
She nodded and dug in her desk and pulled them out.   
Hanji read over some of Eren’s files. He was just as she remembered him to be. A crazy anger-driven kid. He was arrested thirteen times from things ranging from minor possession of alcohol and domestic violence. The last time he was arrested it was for stabbing Grisha, his father in the back with a knife. That’s probably when they gave up with him and put him up for adoption, but the police sentenced him to a month in a mental facility, but since no one was there to pick him up he was forced to stay. She filled out the adoption paperwork and handed them over to Charlotte. Charlotte scribbled an address on a sticky note and handed it over to Hanji.   
“That’s where your new son is. And warning, he’s a dangerous subject, not because of his anger but because of all of the medicine he is on. I know I don’t have the full list of what he is on but some of them can’t mix too good. He either has more rage than before or they turned his emotions off so he is a zombie and only acts how he knew he used to. Be careful, you are our best doctor. We need you.”  
Hanji nodded as she read over the address. Her eyes got huge with shock. This was one of the worst mental facilities in the world. It would probably be a pain to get him out of there. But to see Eren’s smile again, it was all worth it. She thanked Charlotte for everything then got back to her car.   
She had to hurry to Eren. He was in danger. She drove as fast as she could without going too far over the speed limit. She kept thinking of all the horrible things that could be happening to him. She kept having to remind herself about the laws of this society. Law enforcement wouldn’t care what was happening to a delinquent. They would call her insane for adopting him. They didn’t know their bonds, how Eren used to be a happy manageable kid. A kid who would swear that he would rid the world of titans and do anything to save those he cared about.   
She drove into the mental facility parking lot. Shinto hospital, just that name gave her the creeps. She ran out of her car and into the main lobby.   
“I’m here to pick up my son, Eren Jaeger.” She explained to the secretary  
The secretary looked at Hanji like she was crazy for picking Eren up. She picked up her phone and called someone.  
“Yes we have Eren’s mom here to pick him up. Yes. Ok I’ll tell her.” She put the phone down and turned to Hanji “He’s been acting up lately, so we have him in solitary confinement, we’ll take him out and let you talk to him in his room, if he thinks he is ready to leave, we’ll set up a meeting with his counselor and then if he is ready we will release him to you.”   
Hanji nodded then was shown a seat for her to wait in. The hospital was just what she had dreaded. Everything was white, the walls, the clothes, everything it was enough to drive somebody insane. The stench was overwhelming. She had no idea how anyone could live here.   
Soon enough she was called back and walked through the halls. If she thought the lobby was bad she sure wasn’t ready for the back. It was filled with patients that sat on the floor coughing and crawling on the floor. The floor was the nastiest she had seen, it was covered in dirt and blood and unmentionable substances. Some of the patients were locked behind doors the only way they could see outside was either through bars or bullet proof windows. The walls which she was guessing was supposed to be white had multi colored stains on it and holes in it from fighting. Finally they got to Eren’s room. It was a small room and compared to the rest of the facility was the cleanest part of it. Though how he would mess it up, since he only had a bed.   
She looked at Eren sadly. He was a mess his hair was long and lopsided, his skin was multi colored from the dirt that covered it. His white outfit had several blood stains, which she could only hope wasn’t his. He looked tired, huge bags hung under his eyes. But the thing that got Hanji was that he was covered in scars. This shocked Hanji, she wasn’t used to the fact that Eren could scar, she still thought of him healing almost instantly. In that time he couldn’t scar. Eren looked up at her with his emerald green eyes and filled her with this dreadful feeling. Sadness rested in those eyes.   
“When they said my mother was here, I didn’t expect this. Though I shouldn’t have been shocked. You really were like my mother back then.” He muttered   
Tears formed in Hanji’s eyes. She ran up and hugged Eren who hugged her back.  
“I missed you.” She cried  
“I missed you too Hanji.” He said as he began rubbing her back   
“Come sit down. I know the bed isn’t much but its ok once you get used to it.”  
She sat next to Eren and ran her fingers through his hair. He seemed a lot calmer than he used to be. But that must be the medicine, but she also felt like he was forcing his emotions out. Usually he would throw a fit whenever she touched his hair but he sat there almost like a zombie and let Hanji ramble on about how she was going to get him out of here. It wasn’t till he smirked and replied to her that she knew what the meds where doing.  
“But why should I go with you? What good could I do.? You’re just going to give me up too.” He said almost monotone.  
He was left a paranoid zombie. Every time Hanji would try to bring up things that would have made Eren happy, this Eren just sat there and mumbled “Yea.”. It was pitiful.  
She turned to Eren “Do they even know what’s wrong with you?”  
Eren shook his head. “I’m on meds for everything you can think of. They have no idea. They just know I am crazy.”  
Hanji could feel the anger flowing through her blood. They were poisoning him with pills; they were slowly killing the real Eren. The Eren she knew would laugh and smile and fill the whole room with this light and joy. He would bring joy to everyone around him. He was a happy kid. This one didn’t even know how to have emotions anymore. He just sat there wondering how it felt to feel human again. She could tell how stressed out this made Eren. How hard he was wondering if he could even consider himself human again.   
She stuck out her hand and grabbed Eren’s and began pulling him out of the hospital. Eren began to panic. It was obvious he had no idea what Hanji was doing, and neither did she. All she knew was that she had to get Eren out of there.   
“Where are we going? Eren yelled as he had to run to keep up with Hanji  
“We are getting you out of here. This place is despicable and you do not belong here. Whatever is wrong with you, we can fix it at home with our own knowledge of this new you. They don’t have the right to touch you anymore. The moment I signed those papers you became my son and I get to call the shots not them.”   
Eren smiled as Hanji lead him through the doors into the lobby. Hanji smash her hands down on the desk and with the most menacing look she could give demanded that they let Eren leave this damned facility. She ran into a little trouble when the stupid secretary called up the manager of the hospital. Who ran to the girls rescue and began arguing with Hanji.   
“He is my son and if I don’t want him here, then all you can do is release him. He is not a monster you can keep behind bars. He is my son.” Hanji screamed over and over till the manager finally gave up and decided to let Eren leave.


	3. Finally Home

Eren sat in Hanji’s car nervously as she drove him to his new home. She knew Levi would be shocked when he woke up, but he would be glad to see Eren. Who at the moment was probably so hyped up on drugs that he couldn’t comprehend what was really going on. He just sat there his mouth slowly opening but quickly closing like he was too scared to ask something.   
The whole ride home was like this though Hanji had tried to ask Eren what was wrong but he never responded with anything. When they walked into the house Levi was up. He sat at the table writing a letter, probably to Petra. He looked over at Eren and his expression went from shock to a look of pure joy.  
“Didn’t I tell you that we can’t have a dog here?” He groaned playfully   
“Hey’ Eren called back   
Levi laughed as he walked up to Eren and put his arms around him embracing him in a hug. Eren hugged back, but was a little nervous. Levi reached up and ruffled Eren’s hair.  
“Well at least the pups cute.” He muttered as he walked off, but then turned and added “Welcome home, Eren”   
Eren fumbled his hair back in place, and nodded. He looked scared. Hanji felt a bit sad, she knew nothing about this Eren. What he had been through, what he dreamt, this was all still a mystery to her and it would stay this way till Eren felt like he could trust her. She knew he had trusted Grisha and Carla but they had probably treated him badly and they threw him out on his ass. He probably didn’t have anyone else to trust and it wasn’t like the hospital he was in before did anything to help with his trust issues. It just made him more untrusting.  
She sighed as she watched Eren’s eyes dart nervously around as if making sure that this place was safe. Could Eren even trust anymore? This kid had been through a lot. He had learned that he couldn’t trust his family, the police, or doctors, what if he learned that he should not trust in anyone? That could be dangerous for both him and Hanji, since him not trusting her could lead to issues in this house.   
She looked at the sheet she had been handed at the hospital before she left. All of the medication he had taken was on it. And no wonder Eren was a mess. They really didn’t know if anything was wrong with him. He was on 14 medications that caused horrible things if mixed, which Hanji knew they were. She would have to wean Eren off of them to get to see the real Eren and to assess if he did need some medicine to help. But in no way did anyone need this much. He could have died. He was lucky that Charlotte had found him or he would have been killed there.   
Hanji knew Eren from back then but she wasn’t ready for this Eren. The world had tested the limits of him and pushed him off of the edge of sanity. He would most likely drive her crazy with his emotional baggage but she would still see him as the Eren that she used to know. This Eren had been broken over and over till what was left was too damaged to put completely back together. She wouldn’t know the extent of what they did to him till he got of the meds for a while.   
Levi showed Eren the guest bed room that would become Eren’s room. Hanji used to think that it wasn’t much, but she could see it now from Eren’s point of view. He had looked at that nasty hospital for too long. This was probably the first time in forever that he saw a small splash of colors. He walked around, loving the bright green paint that covered the wall. He ran his hands over his new dresser and his green comforter that covered his bed.   
“I can seriously sleep in here?” Eren asked worriedly  
Levi laughed” oh what do you want me to build you a basement like old times? Of course you can sleep in here Eren. What are you talking about there’s nothing special in here. It’s just the old guest room. Hanji just threw random greens together. But I hope you like it, weirdo.”   
Eren smiled as he plopped down on his bed and began looking over his room. For Eren this was something special. A new life was starting for him. A safer more colorful life. He would finally get to be part of a family, instead of being treated like a monster. This was all he probably could ever hope for, and the look on his face. It was a look of pure joy. And it proved everything that Hanji was thinking. That Eren knew this was where he belonged. That this was his family.   
Hanji watched as he yawned. He must have been exhausted from everything that happened today. He sure didn’t wake up expecting this.   
“We’ll let you sleep.” Hanji said as she tucked Eren in his bed  
He nodded and laid his head, down. His eyes slowly shut, and as they did Hanji and Levi tiptoed out of his room and shut the door. They walked over to their bedroom and laid down in their beds.   
“So Eren’s here know. God knows what comes with having him here.” Levi mumbled   
“I don’t know. Just from his records, he has been through a lot. We won’t know what we signed up for till we get him off this dang meds. Then we will get to see what this time has done to Eren.”


	4. More than you asked for

They feel asleep and already in the morning Hanji got a little bit more than she signed up for. She had read the paper and saw that she was supposed to give Eren his meds at 10pm and at 9 am. She forgot last night and it was already 11am. She sighed as she placed down the paper. She knew how dangerous it was to go cold turkey on these types of medications, so she went to Eren’s room to find that there was a blade on the floor.   
It was a short pocket knife and Eren must have gotten it out of the garage. It was deeply covered in blood. Blood spots drenched the carpet. And her new son, Eren was nowhere in sight. She rummaged around the room. She looked under the bed and in the closet; everywhere Eren could possibly be, until she saw that the window was cracked open.   
She opened it enough to squeeze through and went out the window. Not far from where she was Eren was sitting there with a cigarette in his mouth. He sighed as Hanji sat next to him. She looked over at him concernly. All she wanted to do was to smack that cigarette out of his mouth but god knows how angry he would get off of the meds. He smile as he puffed out smoke, and then put it out of the roof.   
“Yea, Yea I know. I’ll take a bath so he doesn’t bitch that I stink.” He muttered as he laid down   
Cigarette buds covered the roof top. Eren had to push some out of his way to even lay down in the first place. She looked in Eren’s hand that should have been empty since he had let go of the cigarette but now had a beer bottle. She grabbed it out of his hands. She finally had enough.  
“Where in the world did you get this? You’re how old? You shouldn’t have been able to get this at your age Eren, and not to mention that you are broke. Where did you get these?” She screamed at him  
He didn’t seem shocked. He looked at her like he was expecting her to find out. But the gleam in his eyes showed that he didn’t have a plan to weasel out of this one.   
“I robbed a convenience store.” He said with a straight face.  
Hanji looked at him angrily. If this was the Eren she used to know, she would have been shocked. But the Eren that sat next to her had been arrested for theft before. She couldn’t be surprised. She was just angry that he had only been here a day before he broke at least three laws.   
Eren laughed next to her as he lit another cigarette. He inhaled deeply and then slowly released the smoke.   
“God you believed that. I guess you should have, you were given my whole horrible file.” He continued to laugh till it turned into a blood wrenching cough.   
He coughed for a long time, and when he stopped he had to catch his breath for a few seconds. The cigarette and alcohol were doing this to him. Did he know that? Hanji shook her head. He couldn’t be that stupid. He had to know. And she didn’t want Eren to feel like she was intruding in his life too much. She didn’t want Eren to hate her. Not after all they had been through, so she hid her concern in the back of her heart. She would have to get Levi to deal with him; she hoped at least he would still respect him after all of these years.   
“I didn’t rob anyone. A bunch of drunks were walking around. I asked them for some. They were so drunk that they gave me some. Three packs of cigarettes and a six pack of beer. Too bad it was cheap beer though. Tasted like shit.” Eren scoffed  
“Stop smoking and go take a shower now. If Levi even gets the smallest idea that you’ve been like this I swear I will tell him. I better not find you acting like this ever again. Do you hear me Jaeger?”   
Eren shot Hanji a dirty look after he heard her refer to him like that. He must still have bad feeling towards his old family, or did he not expect to be called that by her. She called him Eren even back then, so he must have been surprised to hear that name come from her. Whatever the reason was that look probably was a warning of what would come if she kept acting like he was someone she had to watch over.   
He had always been independent but in this time he really did need help. The small incisions on his wrist only proved that point to her. She had to get him to take his meds but she probably would have to wait an hour or so for the alcohol to leave his system before giving them to him.   
Eren patted Hanji’s head as he walked through the window. He rummaged through his stuff and pulled out some clothes. But since Hanji hadn’t gone shopping for him yet they were some from the hospital, when they had gotten a bag of his stuff. The color white didn’t suit Eren; he was way more wild than that but it was the only thing he had.   
He ran quickly into the shower before Levi exited his room. He saw Hanji and sighed as he walked into Eren’s room and crawled out the window. He looked around the roof and his expression changed to a scowl. Hanji wasn’t sure if she had imagined it but a black aura seemed to be emitting from Levi, making him seem scarier than before. If that was even possible. He turned slowly to Hanji.   
“I can’t believe I let you kiss me with your nasty smoker’s mouth.”   
Hanji began to fidget with her hands. She had to explain but the look Levi was giving her made it hard for the words to come. Levi growled as he kicked the cigarettes off of the roof. With the last one off of the roof his expression lost a little bit of the pure hatred but not by much.  
“Breakfast is ready. That is, if I don’t kill you before you can eat it.” Levi threatened   
He went back into the house and Hanji followed quickly after. She tried to make him listen but the words wouldn’t come out. Till she finally got in front of Levi.  
“It wasn’t me. It was Eren. Go ask him, or at least go see him; you can smell it on him.” She cried   
The evil aura that surrounded Levi got bigger as he kicked open the door to find a shirtless Eren. Who screamed and began to complain about privacy. Levi leaned in and smelt Eren. His scowl got scarier as he must have smelt the smoke that still lingered on Eren’s skin and in Eren’s breath.   
“Do you know what those do Eren? You stupid idiot, those disgusting things are not for young children, they’re not for anyone. They are dangerous Eren. They can destroy your lungs in an instant. Do you want to die?” Levi screamed at Eren  
Eren looked down. He rubbed the cut marks on his arms. The depression in his eyes shone out like he had never been happy in his life. And his answer would take the young couple on the ride of their lives.   
“Didn’t you get the police papers?” he asked but when Levi and Hanji stared blankly back at him he understood that they either didn’t or hadn’t got that far in the paperwork. But they both began to wonder what horrible things could be written on them.


	5. Pleas of soldiers

“The reason that I stabbed Grisha wasn’t because I was angry. Ok scratch that, I was pissed. But I wanted to die. I knew that if I went at him hard enough there was a chance that he would lose it and kill me, but I forgot about Carla. She walked out of her bedroom to see us fighting again. But only this time I was holding a knife. She instantly called the cops. I was arrested, put up for adoption and now I am here. Still depressed, still seeing that there is a new darkness, a new evil in this world but only this time I can’t defeat it. But once again I am holding it. I am one with one of the many darkness’ that roam this earth but I can’t control it and instead of being the hope for humanity, I get treated like a little kid. A kid who knows nothing about life. Though I lived a pretty good one. I already lived a life. I already know about how life can be wonderful and shit. But not this one. In this time there is nothing I can do. I am worthless. I want to die.” Eren explained  
They stood in silence for a few seconds. They were shocked by Eren’s words. Hanji didn’t expect it to be this bad. The facts where now in her face. This Eren wasn’t as strong as the one before. This Eren had been pushed beyond the limits that a boy his age should have to deal with. All she wanted to do was to help him. To help him get back to his feet so that he could see the wonderful things about life again. But maybe what shocked Hanji the most was the last seconds of Eren’s life back then. She shook her head violently. She shouldn’t be thinking about that. There was nothing she could do.   
Levi walked up and hugged Eren and for the first time in a long time she saw him cry. If she hadn’t looked close enough she would have missed it. Levi usually didn’t cry. He thought it was a waste of time and wouldn’t help the situation at all, not to mention that it was gross. So he refrained from doing it. But this had to do with Eren. His past comrade. He didn’t want to see Eren this way, no less than anyone else. Levi wiped his eyes quickly with his shirt.   
“Your life has meaning, Jaeger. We searched so long because you give us this joy that no one else can. You’re just too young to see what you can do in this time period yet. You know that you have this way to impact others’ lives with the choices that you make, and if you kill yourself. What kind of impact would that leave on us, or the others that are dying to see you again? Are you really that much of an idiot that you would think that we would all just stand here and watch you fall? We are going to help you to get back on your feet whether you like it or not, and you know what Eren you are going to thank us one of these days for putting up with your hormonal ass. Now take a shower you smell like shit.” Levi cried  
Levi let go of Eren who was now crying too. He nodded as Levi left the room so that Eren could take a shower but Hanji stood there. She just didn’t know what to say to Eren. His speech about wanting to kill himself was still resting on her mind. She quickly came up with something to say.   
“Eren, if you ever need one of us. We are right here. Not ever forget that we are here to listen to your problems. And if you want to meet one of your old comrades just ask and I’ll see if we can set something up.”   
Eren nodded slowly. She wasn't so sure that he understood though. There was still awkwardness between them. She knew Eren wasn’t telling her something. But she would have to pry it out of him later. Eren was under too much for her to bother him now, also Levi was right. He did smell. She turned around to leave but felt his hand grab hers.  
“Armin, please. Let me see him. He’s my best friend. I need him more than anyone else.”   
Hanji smiled as she nodded.   
“I’ll plan something, but sweet heart. It’s the 21st century you don’t need to hide that you want to see your boy.” She said   
She left Eren blushing in the bath room. She smiled evilly as she walked into the kitchen. Levi looked over at her while he was setting the table.   
“Only one thing can make you smile like that. What did you do to Eren?”  
Hanji sat down at the table and Levi poured eggs onto her plate. He poured the remaining eggs onto the two other plates and waked back into the kitchen. Setting the pan down with a bang, as Eren walked into the kitchen. Eren looked a bit better clean. For one his hair that was black when they picked him up was now a dark brunette, and his skin that had a grayish figment to it was now a lightish pink. He just looked less sick, if that was even a thing to say about someone who was just so dirty that they used to look dead. But it made her happy to see that he was at least clean.   
And she was right; the white clothes made him seem simple. It made him seem like a nice simple boy that never would talk back to anyone, the perfect son. Which Eren defiantly wasn’t. If the incident from this morning and all of the paperwork didn’t make it completely obvious.   
He sat down at the seat farthest from Hanji and set his head down. He must have been tired, god knows what time he went to sleep, or if he ever did. By the look of him Hanji thought the last one would fit better. Levi walked over and pulled Eren’s head up.   
“People that smoke don’t get to sleep at the table.” He said  
Eren mumbled to himself and rubbed his eyes. He was a mess. Hanji watched as he poked at his breakfast with his fork. Hanji decided to plan something with Eren so that he wouldn’t go to sleep and be up all night again with those drunkards.   
“Ok Eren so I got a lot planned today. First we are going to get you a psychiatrist which shouldn’t take too long since you are already in the paperwork and we are going to get you on the right meds. And then we are going to pick you out some clothes because the mental patient look is not working for you. Then if we have time I’m going to see if Armin can come over and see if we can enroll you in his school. You are not dropping out of high school because you’re crazy. “  
Eren laughed as his schedule was planned for him. He knew what Hanji was planning. The look he shot her said that. But she knew he was going to thank her one day. He shoved a fork full of eggs and instantly gagged.   
Levi looked over at him angrily.   
“Please tell me that you’re getting nauseous from drinking and not that you think I am a horrible cook, because I’ll have you know I am a badass cook.”   
Eren shook his head. He raised his finger up.   
“The first one, I swear.”   
Eren rubbed his face. He smirked as Levi got up to get his keys. He kissed Hanji goodbye and hugged Eren. It almost seemed like Levi didn’t want to let go of Eren. Like if he let go of Eren he would disappear again.   
“When you get home, I… I have something important I need to tell you. And you have to promise me that you won’t overreact or tell me something stupid.” Levi pleaded


	6. Call to a friend

Eren nodded and watched as Levi left the room. Hanji got up and took the dishes to the sink. She watched as Eren followed her. She smiled and led him to the car, locking the hose behind her. When she got into the car she took her phone out of her pocket. She dialed Armin’s number. It was a Saturday, so Armin should be able to answer. She heard the line pick up and she was relieved to hear Armin on the other side.  
“Hi, Hanji.” He answered  
“Hi, I just was calling because I have a loser in my car that’s dying to talk to you.”  
She heard Eren mutter something about her being the only loser in the car but she chose to ignore him.  
“Hanji, this better not be another one of your coworkers that read about me. I don’t have the time to hear them screaming. I’m trying to find someone.”  
“Yea but that’s the loser I’m talking about. Just listen to him and don’t cry, k babe.”   
She handed the phone to Eren who had to get his composer together. He kept breathing in and out till he got the courage to put the phone to his ear and respond.   
“Armin?” he cried “Armin? Is this really you?”   
She heard Armin crying on the other side. When Eren heard the cries he lost his composer too, tears rushing down his face.  
“Eren?” she barely heard Armin cry.   
Hanji didn’t want to seem like an invasive person but she was curious, so she turned on the Bluetooth in her car so that Armin would talk over the radio.   
“Yea, Yea. It’s me. I’m here.”   
Armin’s crying got louder with that. Armin had been the one that searched for him the most. He worked so hard to be smart so that he would have a chance to be publicized, so that Eren might read about him in a newspaper or see him on the news or something.  
“I looked for you everywhere.” Armin confessed   
“I know. You don’t need to look anymore. I’m right here. Hanji’s enrolling me in your school, and we can hang out all the time after that, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out before then. “  
Armin sniffled.   
“Of course. I’m busy this weekend, but how about next Saturday?”  
Eren looked over at Hanji who nodded.  
“Yea, um” he looked over at Hanji. “What time can he come over?”   
“Hey Armin is it ok if you sleep over then, we can pick you up at 5 and you could catch up with what this lunatic is doing.”   
Armin laughed. Hanji could hear the relief in Armin’s voice. That kid had stressed himself out trying to find Eren, and now here he was.   
“Yea, that’s great actually. I’ll see both of you then. I have to tutor a bunch of kids in a few minutes, so I have to go. But it was great talking to you Eren.”  
Eren wiped the tears off of his face.   
“Yea, I’ll see you then. Bye, Armin.”   
She heard the line drop and she turned off the Bluetooth. She laughed as Eren tried to collect himself. Eren shot her a concern but hate filled look.   
“What!” he demanded  
“I told you, you don’t have to hide. I swore you would have kept up the old tradition of calling him your baby. “   
He rolled his eyes at her. Then slouching down in his seat, he looked out the window as Hanji started the car and began to drive to her work, though she didn’t need to work today. She had to get Eren to one of the doctors in there. She pulled into the parking lot and looked over at Eren. She wanted to find that determined look that he used to always have but found that the tears from when they called Armin still lingered. He didn’t seem to determined, more like a bit scared. Scared that these doctors would treat him the same way as the others, like a monster.


	7. Eren's colors

She opened her car door and got out; Eren did the same only slower. They walked in silence. Hanji just didn’t know what she could tell Eren at this point. She couldn’t tell him to trust these doctors. She knew he wouldn’t. Any comforting words were no useless. Eren wouldn’t accept them.  
They walked inside and Charlotte was at the front waiting for them. Levi must have called her. She waved her hand for them to follow. When they got in her office she shit the door behind her then sat down at her desk.  
“So you must be Eren Jaeger. It’s nice to finally meet you. Hanji has driven herself crazy looking for you.”  
“She didn’t have to, as you can tell I’m not worth it.” Eren scoffed  
The room got quiet as Charlotte rummaged through some paperwork taking out everything from the adoption files that Levi had drove down to get finalized to every single arrest record.  
“Your file is the biggest one that I have had yet.” She said as she put down the last pile of papers.  
Eren’s eyes skimmed over the piles of paperwork. Till his eyes caught something. Then they skimmed over what seemed to be a single pile. He looked at them with shock, like he wasn’t expecting her to have it. Then he reached over and grabbed it. Crumbling it up and shoving it in his pocket.  
Hanji and charlotte looked over at Eren but he didn’t want to give the paper back. He just sat in his chair with his eyes staring at the ground almost like they were glued to that single spot.  
“I just got Hanji. I don’t want her to see this. Anyways how the hell did you get this? I was ten, I wasn’t arrested. This shouldn’t even be on my record. Did you just think that you could collect all of my papers and prove to the few people I have left that I am a FREAK!” Eren’s voice thundered around the room

“Eren calm down.” Hanji begged “ She collected your papers because she is taking up your case. Not because she’s trying to show us that you’re a lunatic. We already knew that. We know you need help Eren. That’s why we are here, that’s why she is here. I know you still think that you can handle yourself. That you are the same boy from back then, but you aren’t. This time has changed all of us. You aren’t what you used to be Eren. This time has left you completely unarmed.”   
Eren looked away. He stood up quickly but decided against it and sat back down.   
“Not that incident. The police, they promised me that no one would find those files. After all I did for them-" Eren froze.   
His eyes were furious. He punched the armrest on the chair.   
“I did all of that and once again the world sticks it’s cruel face in mine and laughs at me. Proving how worthless my existence is here. I worked so hard to hide this. So that I could live a normal life. I did things that would make people vomit for these damned cops, so that when I got adopted they wouldn’t see how much of a freak I am. I knew Carla and Grisha didn’t want me anymore. I had known for 7 years. They started introducing me to people as their son but they wouldn’t say my name, it started like that then progressed to where it was almost like they forgot my name. Every time they needed me it was son or boy, not Eren. I knew I was slowly getting kicked to the curb. The cowards were too scared to fully kick me out, so they would pick fights with me and get me continuously arrested, until I didn’t need them to get arrested anymore. Till I started to retaliate. And I knew that all of those other charges could be explained by ‘he’s was just a kid.’ Or ‘he wasn’t in a good place then.’ But this one couldn’t be redeemed like that. So no. I don’t want you pulling up my records and I don’t want Hanji to see this one. She’ll see this over my dead body.” Eren screamed   
He got up out of his chair and slammed it to the floor. Then ripped open the doors and ran out. His rage was out of control. Hanji would have to calm him down and get him back in here or he may get himself in trouble again. She apologized to Charlotte then ran after Eren. Who wasn’t that far ahead because he had got caught by the guards from trying to enter a room without an I.D.. She pulled Eren into an empty hallway and hugged him. He tried his best to get out of the hug but she wouldn’t let go. She slipped her hand into his pocket and pulled out the paper, pushing Eren away with one hand so that she could read it.


	8. The police report

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is going to be a bit shorter than the rest because it's just going to be the report

October 31, 2008   
Police went to the Jaeger residence to find the house in complete ruins. The walls had huge holes in them, doors torn off of hinges, the furniture tossed around the room. The officers were led to Eren Jaeger’s room, the ten year old. He was sitting in a corner in his bedroom rocking back in forth. When he saw the officers he screamed and began throwing items at them. He began to yell about a girl torturing him but there was not a girl in the room. He demanded that she get out of his life, telling his imaginary friend that she was ruining his life and that he couldn’t think with her there. Then he continued to throw things everywhere. Officers tried their best to calm him down but he was too rowdy. It took him an hour to finally get to a state where the officers could talk to the boy without fear of being attacked.   
Officer Oak was the first one to talk to the boy. She told Eren that what he did was irresponsible and not a thing to do in this society. Eren argued with the officer claiming that it wasn’t his fault she made him do it, but after a while he gave in telling the officers he was sorry and that he would never do it again. No charges were filed by the parents or any of the officers.   
Case will be dismissed when he turns 18


	9. Doctor visit

Eren gave up after Hanji read the police report. He sat down and began to run his hands through his hair. He looked up at her as if to say ‘see I am a freak’ but Hanji didn’t feel that way about Eren. Whatever was going on in this report it didn’t seem to be affecting him now.   
She helped Eren up and they walked back into Charlotte’s office. Eren seemed reluctant to listen at first but after a while he settled down, even giving Charlotte permission to show Hanji the rest of his files. Hanji sat quietly as she read over the papers, sometimes turning to Eren and asking why he did something. Most of his answers would be like “I wanted to see what I could get away with” and “Grisha pushed me too far that day.” Hanji finished reading the last of the papers as Eren began to dose off. His eyes flickered open and closed as he fought with himself to stay up.   
“Thank you Charlotte, for getting this all together. Now all I got to do is take him to one of the psychiatrist and see what we can do for him.”   
Charlotte nodded as Hanji left Eren’s case in her hands. Hanji didn’t know if Eren completely trusted Charlotte but she needed him to, so that he could get justice for at least something.   
They walked onto the psychiatric part of the hospital. Eren walled a little slower there, looking at all of the colors that he didn’t expect to be here, he was looking for those white walls he was used to. He seemed confused, like the hospital had taken all of the colors out of his dictionary and all Eren knew about was white. Hanji looked at his clothes and knew she had to get Eren out of them. White was all Eren had seen for the past few years. That damned color had ruled his life.   
Hanji walked up to the front desk and requested to see a doctor. The receptionist smiled as she called one up and they were rushed into the back. Apparently saying that you need a psychiatrist for Eren was a big deal here. They had probably seen his papers too, since they were in the system. Eren sat down in a chair next to Hanji, once they had gotten into a psychiatrist’s office. The doctor came in and smiled.   
“You must be Eren Jaeger. I have heard a lot about you. You are the talk around here ever since Charlotte got a hand on your papers.”   
Eren sat there quietly. He didn’t look like he wanted to be there very much. Hanji slid her hand over and grabbed Eren’s hoping to send over some moral support.   
“So let’s see.” The psychiatrist said as she went through Eren’s papers “I can help Eren too much yet. You see some of the medicines that horrible place put him on can hinder some of the information that we would get from a normal responsive person. Eren probably has seemed unresponsive, uncaring, like a zombie. He could say hurtful things without feeling a thing with all the drugs they got him hyped up on. The moment you miss out and forget to give him the drugs his emotions would sky rocket. The worst part of this is that he has to be completely taken off all of the medicine to see what we have to deal with. Especially these.”   
She highlighted seven medications. Hanji wondered what she meant but she didn’t have to wait long to get an explanation.   
“Those are highly addictive and have the worst side-effects. So we’ll have to detox him immediately. Hanji since you are a doctor we have two options. We can detox him here in our facility, or if Eren is still scarred from the other hospital, you could do it at your home. It has a greater risk of going wrong, but part of the detoxing will be easier if Eren is at a place he feels safe.”   
Eren’s eyes got huge. He looked at the lady like she was insane. He must have seen people that had to be detoxed in the hospital. Hanji gave Eren’s hand a tight squeeze as Eren’s eyes began to drift away.   
“How long would this take?” Eren asked  
“It should take at minimum 2 weeks.”   
Eren lost it. He got out of his seat. Two weeks. Eren couldn’t wait two weeks. Armin was coming over. He looked at Hanji with begging eyes. She knew that Eren had given a bit of his trust to a doctor that Hanji worked with, but hearing that they would have to post pone a long awaited meeting to go through this. Hanji shot him a dirty look and mouthed the words “sit down”  
He calmly sat down.   
“Fine.” He muttered   
They got handed a lot of paperwork and Eren had furiously scribbled his name where he was to sign. He was happy when they left. It was obvious that he didn’t like that lady. True when Hanji used to treat him like that he didn’t like her much either. But this was a bit more than being treated like a test subject. This was Eren being hyped up on drugs finding out that he can no longer be hyped up on drugs and getting defensive about it.   
“Can Armin still come over.” He begged   
This was the one thing that probably ran through his and over and over. Armin. That little blondie was the tiny bit of sanity he had left. Hanji sighed as Eren pouted at her.  
“Yes. I if you are in good enough shape when he comes over.”  
“Just making sure.” Eren said as he got in the car. “What do you mean by good enough shape? I don’t want this coming and biting me in the butt later.”  
Hanji wondered as she started the car, what would be good enough. She started to drive out of the parking lot. She didn’t want to kill Eren’s chances with Armin by letting him see him too soon and him creeping the poor boy out. So she had to set standards.   
“Good enough is you not talking like this morning.” She decided  
“Deal” Eren muttered as they headed back home


	10. Apology

Levi still wasn’t home when they got home. This was to be expected because he didn’t get off work till 5 but Eren was still waiting for him to tell him the thing that he had promised not to over react over. Hanji faced palmed as she remembered what else she had to do. Get Eren clothes. She ordered him to get back into the car.   
“Seriously” he laughed  
Hanji drove Eren to the nearest Walmart. They got out and walked into the clothing section with a basket. Hanji grabbed a bunch of clothes that were Eren’s size. She had checked the tag in the back of his shirt. She shoved them into the basket. She made sure Eren liked them beforehand. She showed him a bunch of shirts in a bunch of different colors, and with different sayings on them. Eren’s favorite shirt was the cameo because it reminded him of the survey corps.   
They rushed around the store grabbing anything that was Eren’s size and shoved it in the basket. Hanji didn’t know how much longer Eren would be in this modernly ok mood. She thought back to something the psychiatrist had said before they left.   
“Some of the medications will leave his system faster than others, so he might start acting up later tonight. Especially since the first medication to leave his systems is for schizophrenia, so if he actually is schizophrenic it should start acting up.”   
Hanji wondered if Eren was schizophrenic. The police reports did hint at it, but at 15 he was too young to fully diagnose. Without drastic signs that is.   
But Eren seemed happy enough right now. Which was great. But she wondered how bad he was going to get. She shook her head. She can’t be thinking about this now. She had to seem happy for Eren’s sake.   
They rushed to pay and afterwards rushed back to the car. Hanji looked at the time, 4:35. Levi should be getting home soon. She hoped she would have enough time to fill Levi in before Eren lost it completely. He already looked drained in the car. But maybe it was just him being sleep deprived or something. She could only hope at this point.   
When they got home Levi was just getting out of his car. Hanji looked over at Eren who besides seeming a little out of it, looked pretty okay at this point. They grabbed the bags and walked into the house. Levi came in Eren’s room and helped him put away all of his new clothes. Giving them a moment to talk.  
“About what I said this morning, you still promise not to overreact. I have wanted to say this forever so you can’t laugh at me or something.” Levi muttered  
Eren nodded and waited for Levi to gather up his courage. Hanji knew how hard these words were going to be for Levi. He had been both urgently waiting and dreading saying these words. She shoot Levi a look of support and he smiled back at her.   
“Back when we were in the survey corps, I wasn’t the greatest leader. I made horrible choices that the consequences hit the both of us pretty hard. I remember every time that you would blame yourself for something that went wrong because you thought you were responsible, but that wasn’t true. I was your captain. I was in charge of you. I should’ve made the right calls, but most importantly I should’ve protected you better. The worst day of my life was when we were finally Titan free, well almost. The military police came to the castle and told us that you had no purpose anymore, and that they would hold a public execution for you in two weeks. I tried...” Levi faltered as tears began to drip down his face.   
He wiped them away and continued “I tried to save you I really did. I tried to find any way that we could get out of this, but we couldn’t. Every last thing was in vain, except that damn promise I made you. Erwin continuously brought it up as an option, but I thought that I couldn’t kill you. You had become a very important part of all of our lives, my life. But we couldn’t come up with a different plan that would actually work. So I sent Erwin to tell you the news. I was so cruel. I should’ve told you, but I was a coward. I didn’t want you to hate me for what I had to do. So the day before your official execution we got you into your titan form and I remember how scared you looked on that day. But still for some sick reasons I did not even hesitate. You disintegrated like all of the other titans that I had killed. But I had wished that one thing of you would stay. Nothing did. You were completely gone. We had one of the military police spying on us the whole time, making sure that you didn’t escape. They brought the news to the mass and they celebrated the end of the titans. And ever since that day I’ve wanted to apologize for every mistake I ever made as your captain. For not being able to prevent your death. For being the one to end your life. I am truly sorry.”  
Eren wrapped his arms around Levi as he said the final words.   
“It’s ok Levi; you did what you had to do.” Eren repeated over and over till Levi pushed him off.   
“Whatever loser, now get some sleep. You’ve been up since god knows when.” Levi muttered as he left the room.   
Hanji sat next to Eren on his bed as Eren played around with his hair.   
“Levi has been waiting forever to say that to you. He has been very patient in waiting for your return, ever since that day he swore that if he saw you one day he would make it up to you.” Hanji whispered   
Eren looked away. Hanji was glad that Levi had gotten his wish. Of course he had apologized to everyone else. But Eren was the one person he had literally taken his life with his own hands. And it scarred Levi.  
“Now Eren.” She said changing the subject “I know that being off your medication is going to be hard on you, so if you need anything just yell for us. Ok, but I can’t let you out of your room, because we have dangerous stuff here. So just call for us and we’ll rush in here, ok.”   
Eren nodded in agreement. Hanji kissed the top of the boys head. She got off of the bed and began walking out of the room. Eren wished her a goodnight as she left. Hanji smiled.   
She did not know yet how much she truly needed to say those words.


	11. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha i got sick so if this doesnt make much sense I am sorry, but my mind has been turned into mush

She was woken up at two in the morning by a blood wrenching scream, followed by low mumbling. She shook her head as she tried to understand what was going on, but her mind was still to cloudy from sleep. The only thing that she could think of was that it had to be Eren. Levi was still asleep and no one else lived there. She forced herself out of bed and staggered down the hall. Banging came from the other side of the door. It was Eren. She looked at the list of medicine to see what would be giving him issues. Might as well collect intel why this was happing. The only one that should’ve left his system was the one for schizophrenia. Hanji opened the door slowly, excepting just to see Eren scared in his bed but the room was a total disaster. The dresser had been knocked over his new clothes scattered on the floor, the walls had blood stains on it, and the bed was torn apart and pushed over so that the mattress was on the floor. The only clean place was where Eren had run off to after Hanji had opened the door.   
She walked over to Eren who was slowly rocking himself in a corner. She tried to wrap her hands around him but he flinched and moved slightly away. So she just sat next to him. He looked over at her for a few seconds but then stared into the corner across the room like something interesting was there. Other than a couple of his shirts nothing was there. So what was he staring at?  
Eren slowly pointed his finger to the corner.  
“Please tell me you can see her too. Please tell me I am not crazy.” He cried  
Hanji didn’t know what to say. “Her” who was he hallucinating. Was it even anyone she would know or was it just a figure that had been created just by his disorder. It was now obvious that he had schizophrenia. She didn’t have time to sort that out. Eren saw the look in her eyes and began to flip. He walked over to the corner he had been staring at. He hit the wall violently, cursing repeatedly.   
“How many times do I have to tell you I am sorry before you will leave? I have given you my whole life of apologies. I have made myself look like a fool by seeing you randomly and apologizing in public. I have gotten on my knees and begged you to leave but you refuse. What more do you want from me? Ok, I am sorry. ”   
He fell to his knees and began to cry over and over that he was sorry. Hanji walked over and this time securely put her arms around him. He touched her hand slightly with his but then ripped it away.  
“I’m sorry. I know I made the wrong choice. I should’ve gone with my gut. I could’ve saved you. Then you would have lived your life out. It should’ve been me. I should’ve died and taken your place. I am sorry.” He screamed at the wall  
Hanji’s eyes got huge. She knew instantly who Eren was talking to. A girl who had gotten hurt and Eren had blamed himself over and over. Petra. She was haunting him. But why Petra, he could have seen the whole team. He probably did, Hanji couldn’t say for sure if he didn’t see the others that had died, but right now it was focused on Petra.  
“Eren, are you talking to Petra.”  
Eren looked over at Hanji his eyes clouded with tears. He smiled at her.  
“You can see her too. Thank god-” Eren stopped as once again Hanji’s look told him otherwise  
He looked down at the ground with guilt. This was his secret. And he had tried over and over to hide it, and he didn’t look to happy that now Hanji knew too. Eren began to hyperventilate. He was panicking. He looked around the room nervously, almost as if he was checking the room for others. He turned to Hanji, who was still sitting next to him.   
“Hanji, if that really is you I am sorry you have to see me this way. You are too amazing to have a screwed up son like me.” Eren muttered as he laid his head on her lap.   
Tears ran down Hanji’s face. She couldn’t take seeing Eren like this. He was a mess. He wrapped his arms around Hanji.   
“Eren of course it’s me. What do you think that I would hear you screaming and go back to sleep?”  
“Can you try talking to her? I am too tired to.” Eren pleaded  
Hanji took a breath. She didn’t know what Eren thought her speaking to Petra could do. But she would have to try.   
“Petra, I know you have some things that you can blame us all for. But you cannot blame Eren for anything. He just obeyed orders. He did not tell Annie to come and kill you. He didn’t physically take your life with his own hands. I know you have some regrets that you have too and this is one of Eren’s. So if you could let him leave his life, if you could stop tormenting him. That would be great.” She tried   
She looked down to see Eren passed out on her lap. She smiled as she gently lifted his head up and began to fix his room. After everything else was as it should be she picked up Eren and laid him into his bed. She kissed his forehead and walked back into her room.   
As she lay down in bed Levi’s eyes opened slowly then shut close.   
“The next time is your responsibility.” She mumbled as she rolled over and went to sleep.


	12. Eren's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha Sorry about late update. I've had a lot of school things.

Hanji felt Eren climb onto the bed. He jumped on it, waking Hanji up. Levi had already gotten up. He probably was woken up by Eren. It was his turn to make sure he was ok.   
“Let’s go get Armin. You promised. Let’s go.” Eren begged  
He was really excited to get to see Armin. It had been a really long time. They both had been waiting years for this day. She knew Armin must be as excited as Eren. Armin deserved this so much. He had worked for this day. Armin had earned it. But did Eren earn this; He was still detoxing and was left a little sensitive. Also if Levi was up it meant Eren had a problem before this. She didn’t expect Eren to be perfect; she just didn’t want him to hurt Armin. There was a really small chance that he would hurt Armin, but Eren was unpredictable. He was probably only trying to hold himself together in hope that Armin would be able to come over.   
Hanji got up and looked at the clock. It was 12. She reached to the nightstand and grabbed her cell phone. She handed it to the very impatient Eren.   
“Call him. See if he’s ready to come over.” She muttered  
Eren ran off.   
Eren deserved this. He had worked so hard to keep himself together. He had been through so much, he deserved happiness and if Armin could give him that than who was she to deny it. A few minutes Eren ran back into the room, with the biggest smile on his face.  
“Get in the car.” He screamed   
They got in the car and drove to Armin’s apartment. Armin was waiting outside for them. Eren got into the backseat with Armin and held Armin’s hand. Armin began to cry. He ran his hand over Eren’s face, as if making sure he was real.  
“It’s really you.” He cried   
Eren was almost completely silent on the way back home. He just sat there and listened to Armin speak about his life. He wanted to know all about Armin.  
“A lot has been happening in this era. A lot of us have found a more peaceful life here. None of us have gone into the military. We have already fought for humanity, we don’t need to go through war again.” Armin explained   
“But what about you? What have you been doing?”  
Armin blushed and fidgeted with his hair.   
“My life isn’t that interesting. I’ve just been studying a lot. Nothing you would be interested in. I was trying to get myself out there, so that you would know that you weren’t alone.”   
Eren looked a little more nervous than Armin. He was probably trying to keep himself together, not to embarrass himself in front of Armin. To be someone that Armin would love.   
“So where were you?”   
Eren looked away from Armin. Hanji could tell that Eren wanted to tell Armin, but he didn’t want to be judged. He didn’t want to seem like a freak. Armin wrapped his arms around Eren.   
“It was that bad.” Armin cried  
Eren shook his head. He was trying to calm down Armin. He kept stroking Armin’s hair.   
“I was…. I was in a mental facility.” Eren finally said   
Armin squeezed Eren tighter.   
“I’m sorry.” Armin said letting Eren go slowly. He looked at Hanji. Armin looked worried, like if he didn’t hold onto Eren he would disappear again.   
Eren pulled Armin’s face closer and kissed him. It wasn’t a very long kiss, he pulled his lips off just as fast as he pressed them against Armin’s but it caused them both to blush a deep crimson.   
Hanji laughed as she pulled into the driveway.  
“You two are so cute.”   
Eren got out of the car quickly and slammed the door as he ran into the house. He was pissed or at least, she thought he was pissed. With Eren you could never really tell all that he was feeling. All of his emotions usually just bundled up into on big blob. But now that he was detoxing, all of his emotions were even more jumbled, squished together. Were more erratic.   
“Did I do something to piss him off?” Armin cried   
Hanji shook her head. She probably pissed Eren off, not Armin. Armin couldn’t do anything to make Eren angry.   
“I don’t know. He’s been detoxing for a while. He’s been more sensitive than normal.”   
Armin looked away, his cheeks turning a dark red.  
“I wanted him to kiss me. I guess I’m just selfish.” He sighed   
Hanji wanted to say something. This was all her fault. She wanted to tell Armin he had nothing to worry about. That none of this was because of him, but they got out of the car in silence. When they got into the house they could hear Eren and Levi yelling at each other. Eren must have said something stupid to Levi because he seemed pissed.   
“Eren, get out of your room. Armin came to see you. I don’t know what’s wrong but you can’t stay in your room forever.” Screamed Levi  
“No.” replied Eren “Armin hates me, now.”   
Armin ran up the stairs to Eren’s door. He tried to keep himself collected, but it only made him seem like a hurt puppy.   
“Why? Why would I hate you Eren?” He screamed   
Eren didn’t answer. They just stood in silence. This was the first time in the week that Hanji had heard complete silence and it worried her.   
“Eren, let me in right now.” She screamed  
Usually she would get a reply from this. A small go away would have calmed her nerves. Levi nodded and kicked the door open, breaking the lock. The room was completely empty. Eren was nowhere to be seen, the only thing that gave him away was that the window was left open. She wormed her way out of the window and sat down next to Eren, who shockingly didn’t run away.   
“I kissed him. I promised myself that I wouldn’t touch him. That he had probably moved on and given up on ever loving me. I would respect him, and not hurt him. But I broke that, I kissed him. He doesn’t want me. He wants the old Eren, who could stand by himself. That could fight and smile in battle. That Eren is gone; he died a long time ago. All that is left is me.”  
Eren lit a cigarette and sighed. He didn’t put it up to his lips. He just lit it and watched it burn. She remembered that Armin used to hate the smell of fires. It reminded him of when they burned the bodies.   
“You are still yourself. You haven’t changed. You’re the idiot that Armin fell for. He doesn’t care if you have a few new flaws. That’s the magic of love. True love is when you learn new things about your lover, the good and the bad, and fall in love with them all over again.”   
Eren shook his head. She knew he was going to say something about Armin being too amazing for someone like him so she decided to stop him, before he could try to think that way. Teenagers where cute in that sense. Their problems usually had a simple fix. That years of experience could help with, but sometimes only their heart would know.  
“When you kissed him did that seem like a face that would judge you for something like that?”   
Eren looked at Hanji and mouthed the word no. He put the cigarette out and walked to the window. He walked back into the house. Armin and Levi were standing in his room waiting for him.  
“Armin. I still love you. I know things have changed. I know that I am not as strong as I used to be, but my feelings for you will only get stronger. Will you go out with me, again?”


	13. Final test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading this. I know it took me a long time to finish because this was a little triggering but here's the last chapter.

Eren looked away from Armin. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. He swore that if there was one more second of this silence he was going to have a panic attack. He looked at Armin’s face for any expressions but was too worried to figure out any of them. So he found himself losing himself in Armin’s blue eyes, like old times.  
“Yes.” Armin muttered  
Eren closed his eyes and felt Armin’s arms wrap around his sides. He was crying. He was so weak he was crying his eyes out when Armin said yes. He was so shocked. He didn’t think anyone would care about him, but Hanji and Levi had saved him and now Armin was dating him again.  
“It will be ok Eren. Just breathe. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”  
Eren nodded and tried to collect himself. He was trembling; he needed Armin to keep holding him. Hanji and Levi had left a while ago leaving Eren alone with Armin. Armin held him tighter as Eren tried to push him off. Eren was scared. The fear of being broken up with was now one that he would have to face a long with the others. But Armin made it hard to believe that was an option. Kissing his head as he slowly caught his breath.  
“Have you been sleeping ok, Eren? The bags under your eyes they’re designer.” Armin asked joking at the end  
Eren shook his head. He hadn’t been able to sleep or eat too well since this whole experience. He felt too sick to his stomach to eat and the pain kept him up, not to mention everything else that was going on. His life was a roller-coaster.  
He felt Armin pull him onto the bed and hold him. He knew he was worrying Armin. He had never seen Eren like this. Eren needed to get back on his feet for Armin but mostly for himself. Armin hummed a lullaby as he held him. Eren felt his eyes failing him. They were supposed to have fun and here Armin was taking care of Eren. He felt guilty but as his eyes closed for the first time in a long time he was glad Armin was here with him.  
A few days passed before Eren was taken to see his psychiatrist again. He was a little nervous but this was going to help him. He sat there for the first hour filling out questionnaires with simple questions like “Have you ever attempted or thought of attempting suicide?”  
Eren was glad when he finished. His head was aching with all the dumb questions he had to answer. The doctor would glance at Eren asking if he needed any help or water or anything but Eren didn’t need any. He just wanted to be put on the right meds so he could go to sleep and eat like a normal person.  
“We have the whole lab open just so we can help him. We are going to take blood samples and take serval x-rays. We have certain things we need to test Eren for. Schizophrenia is unfortunately one of them.”  
Hanji nodded and began signing paper works authorizing these tests on Eren. Once she was done Eren was taken into the back. 4 vials of blood were taken from his arm and 5 different x-ray tests. Hanji came back with fast food for lunch and Eren tried to eat as much as he could. He was worried about his results but he needed to gain back some of his weight. He needed to be normal.  
The doctor walked back with the brain x-rays. The only thing she could tell them now. The other test would be sent to a facility and would be tested there. They would have to come back in a week to get those results. 

She placed the x-rays pamphlet on a glowing board point out two hole like notches in his brain. She sighed and shook his head.  
“Right now we can diagnose him with a few things. Depression and Schizophrenia. I really think that it’s all he has but we are sending the blood work and the test Eren took to determine if he may have anything else.”  
She took out a small notebook and wrote down some prescriptions. One was for an anti-depressant anti-physchotic mix and two were for his schizophrenia. The last one was a small pain medicine so Eren could ignore the pain of Grisha’s child abuse. He was thankful for her and when they left he thanked Hanji for staying with him throughout this long process.  
“What was I supposed to just leave you in that place to die?” Hanji asked  
Eren smiled.  
“You could’ve.”  
A year passed and Eren walked out of his room to see his old friends sitting around the family room. He smiled cheerfully and sat down next to Armin. He knew what this was. Hanji always had to throw parties for everything now days, claiming that they should celebrate life itself. One year since Eren was put on the right medication. He was normal now. He was happy now.  
Hanji raised her glass.  
“To Eren and his new found happiness.”  
Eren lifted his glass with the others.  
“Cheers.”


End file.
